System and method to allow access to a value holding account

ABSTRACT

Example systems and methods that allow access to a value holding account are described. In one implementation, a method receives a first request for a second account code after activation of a selector on an account access object associated with a value holding account. The second account access code is associated with a first account access code that is associated with the value holding account. The first account code allows access to the value holding account for a first determinable period. The method generates a second request for the second account code and communicates the second request to the value holding account. The second account code is received from the value holding account and allows access to the value holding account for a second determinable period that differs from the first determinable period. The method provides the second account code to a user of the account access object.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priorityto U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/327,665, filed on Dec. 3, 2008,entitled “System and Method To Allow Access To A Value Holding Account,”which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This patent document pertains generally to value holding accounts andmore particularly, but not by way of limitation, to systems and methodsfor accessing a value holding account.

BACKGROUND

A value holding account may hold anything considered valuable. Anaccount holder may access his or her value holding account using anaccount code such as an account number including a sequence of numbers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numeralsdescribe substantially similar components throughout the several views.Like numerals having different letter suffixes represent differentinstances of substantially similar components. The drawings illustrategenerally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, variousembodiments discussed in the present document.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an account access object, inaccordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an account access card communicativelycoupled to a machine, in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a flow for providing a temporaryaccount code, in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a flow for accessing a valueholding account, in accordance with an example embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a network diagram depicting a client-server system, withinwhich example embodiments may be deployed;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating multiple applications that, in anexample embodiment, are provided as part of a networked system;

FIG. 7 is a high-level entity-relationship diagram, illustrating varioustables that may be maintained within databases, and that are utilized byand support applications;

FIG. 8 is an example card number table, in accordance with an exampleembodiment; and

FIG. 9 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exampleform of a computer system within which a set of instructions, forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, may be executed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OVERVIEW

Various example embodiments include a credit card from which a temporarycard number may be requested and displayed so that the temporary cardnumber can be used to purchase goods and/or services. The credit cardmay include a traditional 16-digit credit card number and associatedexpiration date that can be used for account identification and/oraccount verification. As used herein, a credit card is an example of anaccount access object. It may be noted that the present subject matteris not limited to a credit cards and credit card accounts, any type ofvalue holding account may be associated with an account access object.Example account access objects may include financial instruments such ascheck cards, gift cards, credit cards, charge cards, debit cards or anyother physical object.

For some example embodiments, a user may make a request for the exampletemporary card number by selecting a selectable switch or button on thecredit card. The selector may be implemented in software and may beactivated, for example, via a touch sensitive screen. The example creditcard may receive the request and wirelessly transmit the request for thetemporary card number to a generator of the example temporary cardnumber (e.g., a remote server). For some example embodiments, thetemporary card number is received wirelessly from the source anddisplayed by a liquid crystal display (LCD) on the credit card. Thetemporary card number may be made available using alternative oradditional technologies (e.g., bar codes, magnetic encoding, etc.)without departing from the claimed subject matter.

In various example embodiments, both the credit card number and thetemporary card number can be used up to an expiration date and/or time.The expiration date of the temporary card number may include a number ofhours from the time of issue (e.g., 0.25-hours or 24-hours), while theexpiration date of the traditional credit card number may include anumber of years from the date of issue. By using the example temporarycard number, a user may control the amount of time an account number isat risk of fraud due to being exposed on the internet and/or tomerchants or any other person or machine. For example, a user's creditcard number may be at risk for a number of years when it is used to makea purchase via the internet, while for the same purchase, a user'stemporary card number would be at risk for a number of hours.

The example embodiments include references to the accompanying drawings,which form a part of the detailed description. The drawings showillustrations in accordance with example embodiments. These exampleembodiments, which may also referred to herein as “examples,” aredescribed in enough detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the claimed subject matter. The example embodiments may becombined, other embodiments may be utilized, or structural, logical andelectrical changes may be made without departing from the scope what isclaimed. The detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in alimiting sense, and the scope is defined by the appended claims andtheir equivalents.

Example EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an account access object 104associated with a persistent account code 102 and temporary account code103, in accordance with an example embodiment. The double arrows 105represent an association between the account access object 104 and thepersistent and temporary account codes 102 and 103.

The account access object 104 is a physical object (e.g., a plasticcard, a cell phone, a key chain or any other object) that may bepresented or otherwise used to access a value holding account, via thepersistent and temporary account codes 102 and 103. The account accessobject 104 may include a physical financial instrument. For example, theaccount access object 104 may function as a credit card, debit card,gift card or the like. Using the account access object 104, a user maypresent an account code (e.g., the persistent account code 102) in orderto charge, debit or credit the value holding account to which theaccount access object 104 corresponds.

The account access object 104 is to allow for the generation of thetemporary account code 103, while the persistent account code 102 is tobe persistent relative to the temporary account code 103. The persistentaccount codes 102 and the temporary account code 103 are separate codesthat may be presented to a proprietor of a value holding account, toaccess the value holding account. In some example embodiments, thepersistent account code 102 and the temporary account code 103 may eachinclude a sequence of alphanumeric characters.

In some example embodiments, the persistent account code 102 isimprinted on the account access object 104 and encoded within a magneticstrip (not shown) or a barcode (not shown). Alternatively oradditionally, the persistent account code 102 may be made available byradio frequency identification (RFID) or other medium. The persistentaccount code 102 may be associated with the account access object 104 invarious alternative or additional fashions without departing from theclaimed subject matter.

The account access object 104 is shown to include a requester 106 and aprovider 108. The requester 106 may allow for the request of thetemporary account code 103. In some example embodiments, the requester106 is selectable by a user to request the temporary account code 103. Aselectable requester 106 may include a button or touch screen that maybe depressed to indicate a request to hardware and/or softwareimplemented logic included within the requester 106.

Alternatively or additionally, the requester 106 may be communicativelycoupled to a radio receiver to receive from a remote machine or device,a wireless request for the temporary account code 103. In variousexample embodiments, the requester 106 is to forward requests for thetemporary account code 103 to a generator of the temporary account code103. For some example embodiments the generator of the temporary accountcode 103 includes a machine (not shown) communicatively coupled to theaccount access object via a network. Without departing from the claimedsubject matter, the provider 108 located on the account access object104 may alternatively or additionally generate and provide the temporaryaccount code 103.

The provider 108 is to make the temporary account code 103 available foruse to access a value holding account. As stated above, the provider 108may generate the temporary account code 103. The provider 108 mayinclude hardware and/or software logic configured to securely generateand store random numbers (e.g., and/or characters) randomly sequenced toform the temporary account code 103.

For some example embodiments, the provider 108 is to receive thetemporary account code 103 after it has been generated externally (e.g.,on a machine connected to a wireless network) from the account accessobject 104. The externally generated temporary account code 103 may bereceived wirelessly (e.g., Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.), via a wireless radioimplemented on the provider 108. Alternatively or additionally, theprovider 108 may receive the temporary account code 103 by magnetizationor wired connection.

Whether the provider 108 generates or receives the temporary accountcode 103, the provider 108 is to allow the temporary account code 103 tobe ascertained by a human or machine user (not shown). For some exampleembodiments, the temporary account code 103 to be read via liquidcrystal diode (LCD) screen or other display technology of the provider108. Various example embodiments may include the temporary account code103 being made available wireless (e.g., to a cell phone screen) orphysically (e.g., by swiping a magnetic strip to be read by the paymentmachine).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an account access card 204 that maywirelessly communicate with a machine 214, in accordance with an exampleembodiment. The account access card 204 and its components representexample embodiments of the account access object 104 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is shown to include a card number portion 208 (an exampleembodiment of the provider 108 of FIG. 1) to provide via LCD and/orimprinting, a persistent card number/expiration date 202 and a temporarycard number/expiration date 203 (examples of the account codes 102 and103 respectively of FIG. 1). Throughout this document, the word“persistent” when used in “persistent card number” means persistentrelative to the temporary card number/expiration date 203. For examplethe temporary card number will always have an expiration date that isearlier than or equal to the persistent card number's expiration date.

The example card number requester 206 (an example embodiment of therequester 106 of FIG. 1) may include a physically selectable switch orselector 207 that a user may select to request a temporary cardnumber/expiration date 203. Alternatively or additionally, a remotemachine 211 may transmit a wireless signal 213 to the wireless radio 210to request the temporary card number/expiration date 203. In someexample embodiments, the remote machine 211 may include a mobile phone,or other mobile device with wireless capabilities.

Once a request for the temporary card number/expiration number 203 hasbeen received, the wireless radio 210 may transmit via wireless signal212, the request for the temporary card number/expiration date 203 tothe machine 214 and receive the generated temporary cardnumber/expiration date 203 via the wireless signal 212 from the machine214. The wireless radio 210 may include any radio that is appropriate totransmit and receive the wireless signal 212, which may includeBluetooth, WiMax, WI-Fi or any other types of radio frequency signals.

The machine 214 is to receive a request for the temporary cardnumber/expiration date 203 and to generate the temporary cardnumber/expiration date 203 before transmitting it to the account accesscard 204 to be presented by the card number portion 208 of the accountaccess card 204. The machine 214 may be communicatively coupled to awireless radio (not shown) that transmits and receives wireless signals212 on behalf of the machine 214. The machine 214 may include agenerator 216 to receive requests and generate temporary card numbers.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram, showing a flow 300 of operations performed byentities for providing a temporary account code, in accordance with anexample embodiment. FIG. 3 is shown to include a user 301 lane, anaccount access object 303 lane and a value holding account 305 lane.

Blocks shown in the user lane 301 represent user actions performed by auser of the account access card 202 of FIG. 2. The user may include anowner of a value holding account, a party authorized by an owner of thevalue holding account or a party not authorized by the owner of thevalue holding account. Further, the user may be a human user, a machineuser or a combination of the two (e.g., a human user operating an accessmachine that interacts with the account access card 204).

Blocks shown in the account access object lane 303 represent accountaccess object actions performed by the account access card 204 of FIG.2. Blocks in the value holding account lane 305 represent actions takenby a proprietor of the value holding account such as a proprietor of themachine 214 of FIG. 2 (e.g., an account server).

It may be noted that the account access object 204 of FIG. 2 is aphysical object, which may include circuitry (e.g., a processor, memory,logic circuitry, etc.). Operations performed by the various componentsof the account access object 204 and card 204 of FIG. 2 may beimplemented via hardware, software (e.g., stored in memory) or acombination of hardware and software.

The flow 300 relates to accessing a value holding account. Examples ofvalue holding accounts include credit card accounts, charge cardaccounts, debit card accounts, gift card accounts or any other valueholding account that may be accessed.

At block 302, the flow 300 includes the user action of requesting anaccount code. For various example embodiments, the user is to request atemporary card number/expiration date 203 from the account access card204 by interacting (e.g., selecting a selectable button or switch) withthe card number requester 206 of FIG. 2. In some example embodiments,the account access card 204 is a physical financial instrument such as acredit card associated with a persistent account code such as creditcard number.

The account access card 204 may display the persistent cardnumber/expiration date 202, via a card number portion 208 (e.g., aprovider). The persistent card number/expiration date 202 may beconfigured to allow access to a value holding account for a determinableperiod (e.g., an expiration time allowing several years of service)while the temporary card number/expiration date 203 may be configured toallow access to the value holding account for a different determinableperiod (e.g., an expiration time allowing 24 hours of service). Inexample embodiments, the determinable period associated with thetemporary card number is to expire before at or before the expirationtime of the determinable period associated with the persistent cardnumber.

In different example embodiments, the persistent card number/expirationdate 202 of FIG. 2 may include a credit card number, a charge cardnumber, a debit card number, a gift card number, some combination of theabove accounts or any other account code that may be used to access avalue holding account.

At block 304 the flow 300 includes the account access object action ofreceiving the request for an account code (e.g., the temporary cardnumber/expiration date 203). In an example embodiment, the requester 206receives a physical selection indicating a request for the temporarycard number/expiration date 203. The request may be generated via useractivation of a selector 207 on the account access object. Alternativelyor additionally, the requester 206 may include a wireless receiver toreceive the request via a wireless connection.

At block 306, the flow 300 is shown to include the account access objectaction of further requesting the temporary account number from the valueholding account, responsive to receiving the request for the temporaryaccount code. For some example embodiments, the card number requester206 is to transmit a further request for the temporary cardnumber/expiration date 203 of FIG. 2 from a network machine (e.g., theaccount server 214), which is associated with the value holding account.The request may be wirelessly transmitted via wireless signal 212, basedon the account access card 204 receiving the request for the temporarycard number/expiration date 203. The account server 214, in response toreceiving the request, may cause the generator 216 to generate thetemporary card number/expiration date 203 and deliver it via wirelesssignal 212 to the account access card 204 (e.g., the provider). Such aresponse is indicated by the block 308 of FIG. 3.

At block 310, the flow 300 may include the account access object actionof providing a user with the account access code (e.g., the temporarycard number/expiration date 203 of FIG. 2). The card number portion 208may receive the temporary card number/expiration date 203 wirelesslyfrom the machine 214 (e.g., the account server), and provide thereceived temporary card number/expiration date 203. In various exampleembodiments, the card number portion 208 is to make the temporary cardnumber/expiration date 203 accessible via display on an LCD screen, abarcode display, a magnetic encoder or any other appropriate medium.Block 312 of the flow 300 shows the user action of receiving thetemporary account number from the account access object.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing a flow 400 for accessing a valueholding account, in accordance with an example embodiment. The user lane401, an account access object lane 401 and a value holding account lane401 shown in FIG. 4 may be substantially similar to the user lane 301,an account access object lane 303 and a value holding account lane 305of FIG. 3.

At block 402, the flow 400 may include the user action of requestingaccess to the value holding account using the account code (e.g., thetemporary card number/expiration date 203 of FIG. 2). In an exampleembodiment, the user may recite the displayed temporary cardnumber/expiration date 203 to a merchant who may interact with the valueholding account or an associate thereof to request access to the valueholding account. Various other techniques used to request access to thevalue holding account may include swiping a magnetic strip (e.g., thecard number portion) of the account access card 204 through a magneticreader or scanning a bar code (e.g., the card number portion) of theaccount access card 204 with a bar code scanner. For some exampleembodiments, the wireless radio 210 of the account access card 204 maycommunicate the temporary card number/expiration date 203 to a remotemachine (e.g., the machine 214) to access the value holding account.

At block 404 of the flow 400 includes the value holding account or anassociate of the value holding account action of associating the accountcode (e.g., the temporary account code 203, of FIG. 2) with anotheraccount code assigned to the account access object (e.g., the persistentcard number/expiration date 202). This may include a machine (e.g., themachine 214) accessing a table that associates persistent card numbersassigned to account access cards with temporary card numbers that havemost recently been generated for the account access cards.

At block 406 of the method 400, the flow may include the value holdingaccount or an associate of the value holding account action ofdetermining whether or not the account code (e.g., the temporary accountcode 203 of FIG. 2) is a valid account code, based on another accountcode (e.g., the persistent card number) associated with the accountaccess object 403. In example embodiments, the temporary cardnumber/expiration date 203 is considered valid if it is associated withthe persistent card number/expiration date 202 in the table referred toabove.

At block 408 of the flow 400, the method may include the user action ofreceiving notification of whether the account code (e.g., the temporaryaccount code of FIG. 2) is considered to be valid or invalid. In someexample embodiments, notification may be sent to a card reader and/or tothe account access card itself via wired and/or wireless signals. In anexample embodiment, a valid temporary card number or the persistent cardnumber may be used to access what is of value within the value holdingaccount 405. For some example embodiments, this may include receivingauthorization to purchase goods and/or services using the persistentcard number/expiration date 202 or the temporary card number/expirationdate 203 of the account access card 204.

FIG. 5 is a network diagram depicting a client-server system 500, withinwhich example embodiments may be deployed. A networked system 502, inthe example forms of a network-based marketplace or publication system,provides server-side functionality, via a network 504 (e.g., theInternet or Wide Area Network (WAN)) to one or more clients. FIG. 5illustrates, for example, a web client 506 (e.g., a browser, such as theInternet Explorer browser developed by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond,Wash. State), and a programmatic client 508 executing on respectiveclient machines 510 and 512. In various example embodiments, an accountaccess card 513 may be communicatively coupled to the network 504 viawireless connection. In some example embodiments, the account accesscard 513 is substantially similar to the account access card 204 of FIG.2.

An Application Program Interface (API) server 514 and a web server 516are communicatively coupled to, and provide programmatic and webinterfaces respectively to, one or more application servers 518. Theapplication servers 518 host one or more marketplace applications 520and payment applications 522. The application servers 518 are, in turn,shown to be coupled to one or more databases servers 524 that facilitateaccess to one or more databases 526.

The marketplace applications 520 and the payment applications 522 mayexist in a production environment, where the applications 520 and 522provide functions and services associated with actual commercialactivity relating to subject matter of value and real users or entities.Alternatively or additionally the marketplace applications 520 and thepayment applications 522 may exist in a testing environment (e.g.,testing of API calls) associated with fictitious commercial activityrelating to fictitious subject matter and fictitious users or entities.

The marketplace applications 520 may provide a number of marketplacefunctions and services to users that access the networked system 502.The payment applications 522 may likewise provide a number of paymentservices and functions to users. The payment applications 522 may allowusers to accumulate value (e.g., in a commercial currency, such as theU.S. dollar, or a proprietary currency, such as “points”) in accounts,and then later to redeem the accumulated value for products (e.g., goodsor services) that are made available via the marketplace applications520. In some example embodiments, the payment applications 522 mayinclude one or more applications (e.g., an account number application,discussed below) that facilitate a user accessing a value holdingaccount via the account access card 513 and the API servers 514 or theweb servers 516. While the marketplace and payment applications 520 and522 are shown in FIG. 5 to both form part of the networked system 502,it will be appreciated that, in alternative embodiments, the paymentapplications 522 may form part of a payment service that is separate anddistinct from the networked system 502.

Further, while the system 500 shown in FIG. 5 employs client-serverarchitecture, the present subject matter is, of course, not limited tosuch an architecture, and could equally well find application in adistributed, or peer-to-peer, architecture system, for example. Thevarious marketplace and payment applications 520 and 522 could also beimplemented as standalone software programs, which do not necessarilyhave networking capabilities.

The programmatic client 508 accesses the various services and functionsprovided by the marketplace and payment applications 520 and 522 via theprogrammatic interface provided by the API server 514. The programmaticclient 508 may, for example, be a seller application (e.g., theTurboLister application developed by eBay Inc., of San Jose, Calif.) toenable sellers to author and manage listings on the networked system 502in an off-line manner, and to perform batch-mode communications betweenthe programmatic client 508 and the networked system 502.

The web client 506 may access the various marketplace and paymentapplications 520 and 522 via the web interface supported by the webserver 516. As described above, the example web client 506 (e.g., a webbrowser) may be used as an interface to submit API calls and relatedinformation for the purpose of testing an API call.

As stated above, the account access card 513 may access the paymentapplications via the API server (e.g., using API calls) or through theweb servers 516 to engage in account access operations.

FIG. 5 also illustrates a third party application 528, executing on athird party server machine 530, as having programmatic access to thenetworked system 502 via the programmatic interface provided by the APIserver 514. For example, the third party application 528 may, utilizinginformation retrieved from the networked system 502, support one or morefeatures or functions on a website hosted by the third party. The thirdparty website may, for example, provide one or more promotional,marketplace or payment functions that are supported by the relevantapplications of the networked system 502.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating multiple applications 520 and 522of FIG. 5 that, in one example embodiment, are provided as part of thenetworked system 502 of FIG. 5. The applications 520 may be hosted ondedicated or shared server machines (not shown) that are communicativelycoupled to enable communications between server machines. Theapplications themselves are communicatively coupled (e.g., viaappropriate interfaces) to each other and to various data sources, so asto allow information to be passed between the applications or so as toallow the applications to share and access common data. The applicationsmay furthermore access one or more databases 526 via the databaseservers 524 of FIG. 5.

The networked system 502 may provide a number of publishing, listing,and price-setting mechanisms whereby a seller may list (or publishinformation concerning) goods or services for sale, a buyer can expressinterest in or indicate a desire to purchase such goods or services, anda price can be set for a transaction pertaining to the goods orservices. To this end, the marketplace applications 520 are shown toinclude at least one publication application 600 and one or more auctionapplications 602 which support auction-format listing and price settingmechanisms (e.g., English, Dutch, Vickrey, Chinese, Double, Reverseauctions etc.). The various auction applications 602 may also provide anumber of features in support of such auction-format listings, such as areserve price feature whereby a seller may specify a reserve price inconnection with a listing and a proxy-bidding feature whereby a biddermay invoke automated proxy bidding.

A number of fixed-price applications 604 support fixed-price listingformats (e.g., the traditional classified advertisement-type listing ora catalogue listing) and buyout-type listings. Specifically, buyout-typelistings (e.g., including the Buy-It-Now (BIN) technology developed byeBay Inc., of San Jose, Calif.) may be offered in conjunction withauction-format listings, and allow a buyer to purchase goods orservices, which are also being offered for sale via an auction, for afixed-price that is typically higher than the starting price of theauction.

Store applications 606 allow a seller to group listings within a“virtual” store, which may be branded and otherwise personalized by andfor the seller. Such a virtual store may also offer promotions,incentives and features that are specific and personalized to a relevantseller.

Reputation applications 608 allow users that transact, utilizing thenetworked system 502 of FIG. 5, to establish, build and maintainreputations, which may be made available and published to potentialtrading partners. Consider that where, for example, the networked system502 supports person-to-person trading, users may otherwise have nohistory or other reference information whereby the trustworthiness andcredibility of potential trading partners may be assessed. Thereputation applications 608 allow a user, for example through feedbackprovided by other transaction partners, to establish a reputation withinthe networked system 502 over time. Other potential trading partners maythen reference such a reputation for the purposes of assessingcredibility and trustworthiness.

Personalization applications 610 allow users of the networked system 502to personalize various aspects of their interactions with the networkedsystem 502. For example a user may, utilizing an appropriatepersonalization application 610, create a personalized reference page atwhich information regarding transactions to which the user is (or hasbeen) a party may be viewed. Further, a personalization application 610may enable a user to personalize listings and other aspects of theirinteractions with the networked system 502 and other parties.

The networked system 502 may support a number of marketplaces that arecustomized, for example, for specific geographic regions. A version ofthe networked system 502 may be customized for the United Kingdom,whereas another version of the networked system 502 may be customizedfor the United States. Each of these versions may operate as anindependent marketplace, or may be customized (or internationalized)presentations of a common underlying marketplace. The networked system502 may accordingly include a number of internationalizationapplications 612 that customize information (and/or the presentation ofinformation) by the networked system 502 according to predeterminedcriteria (e.g., geographic, demographic or marketplace criteria). Forexample, the internationalization applications 612 may be used tosupport the customization of information for a number of regionalwebsites that are operated by the networked system 502 and that areaccessible via respective web servers 516 of FIG. 5.

Navigation of the networked system 502 may be facilitated by one or morenavigation applications 614. For example, a search application (as anexample of a navigation application) may enable key word searches oflistings published via the networked system 502. A browse applicationmay allow users to browse various category, catalogue or inventory datastructures according to which listings may be classified within thenetworked system 502. Various other navigation applications may beprovided to supplement the search and browsing applications.

In order to make listings, available via the networked system 502, asvisually informing and attractive as possible, the marketplaceapplications 520 may include one or more imaging applications 616utilizing which users may upload images for inclusion within listings.An imaging application 616 also operates to incorporate images withinviewed listings. The imaging applications 616 may also support one ormore promotional features, such as image galleries that are presented topotential buyers. For example, sellers may pay an additional fee to havean image included within a gallery of images for promoted items.

Listing creation applications 618 allow sellers conveniently to authorlistings pertaining to goods or services that they wish to transact viathe networked system 502 and listing management applications 620 allowsellers to manage such listings. Specifically, where a particular sellerhas authored and/or published a large number of listings, the managementof such listings may present a challenge. The listing managementapplications 620 provide a number of features (e.g., auto-relisting,inventory level monitors, etc.) to assist the seller in managing suchlistings. One or more post-listing management applications 622 may alsoassist sellers with a number of activities that typically occurpost-listing. For example, upon completion of an auction facilitated byone or more auction applications 602, a seller may wish to leavefeedback regarding a particular buyer. To this end, a post-listingmanagement application 622 may provide an interface to one or morereputation applications 608, so as to allow the seller conveniently toprovide feedback regarding multiple buyers to the reputationapplications 608.

Dispute resolution applications 624 provide mechanisms whereby disputesarising between transacting parties may be resolved. For example, thedispute resolution applications 624 may provide guided procedureswhereby the parties are guided through a number of steps in an attemptto settle a dispute. In the event that the dispute cannot be settled viathe guided procedures, the dispute may be escalated to a third partymediator or arbitrator.

A number of fraud prevention applications 626 implement fraud detectionand prevention mechanisms to reduce the occurrence of fraud within thenetworked system 502.

Messaging applications 628 are responsible for the generation anddelivery of messages to users of the networked system 502, such messagesfor example advising users regarding the status of listings at thenetworked system 502 (e.g., providing “outbid” notices to bidders duringan auction process or to provide promotional and merchandisinginformation to users). Respective messaging applications 628 may utilizeany one having a number of message delivery networks and platforms todeliver messages to users. For example, messaging applications 628 maydeliver electronic mail (e-mail), instant message (IM), Short MessageService (SMS), text, facsimile, or voice (e.g., Voice over IP (VoIP))messages via the wired (e.g., the Internet), Plain Old Telephone Service(POTS), or wireless (e.g., mobile, cellular, Wi-Fi, WiMAX) networks.

Merchandising applications 630 support various merchandising functionsthat are made available to sellers to enable sellers to increase salesvia the networked system 502. The merchandising applications 630 alsooperate the various merchandising features that may be invoked bysellers, and may monitor and track the success of merchandisingstrategies employed by sellers.

The networked system 502 itself, or one or more parties that transactvia the networked system 502, may operate loyalty programs that aresupported by one or more loyalty/promotions applications 632. Forexample, a buyer may earn loyalty or promotions points for eachtransaction established and/or concluded with a particular seller, andbe offered a reward for which accumulated loyalty points can beredeemed.

Card number applications(s) 634, in some example embodiments, may beincluded in the applications 520 and/or 522 of FIG. 5 to processrequests for temporary card numbers (e.g., the temporary accountnumber/expiration date 203 of FIG. 2). In such example embodiments, acard number request may be submitted via the account access card 513 ofFIG. 5 to the card number application(s) 634. In some exampleembodiments, the account access card 513 may generate an API call torequest the temporary card number and the API server 514 may receive therequest and forward it to the card number applications 634 using acommand protocol compatible with the card number application(s) 634.Alternatively or additionally, the account access card 513 of FIG. 5 mayrequest the temporary account number via a web browser running on theaccount access card 513 and the web server 516. The example web server516 may in turn forward a compatible request command to the card numberapplication(s) 634.

In various example embodiments, the card number applications 634 mayreceive the request for the temporary account number and process therequest to issue the temporary card number to the account access card513. The card number application's processing of the request for thetemporary account number may include validating the account access card513 based on a persistent card number assigned to the account accesscard 513. If the account access card is determined to be valid, thetemporary card number may be generated, associated with the accountaccess card 513 (e.g., using persistent card number) and transmitted tothe account access card 513. In various example embodiments, tableswithin the databases 526 are read from and written to determine validityand to record generated temporary card numbers.

FIG. 7 is a high-level entity-relationship diagram, illustrating varioustables 700 that may be maintained within the databases 526, and that areutilized by and support the applications 520 and 522 of FIG. 5. A usertable 702 contains a record for each registered user of the networkedsystem 502 of FIG. 5, and may include identifier, address and financialinstrument information (e.g., the account access card 513 of FIG. 5)pertaining to each such registered user. A user may operate as a seller,a buyer or both, within the networked system 502. In one exampleembodiment, a buyer may be a user that has accumulated value (e.g.,commercial or proprietary currency), and is accordingly able to exchangethe accumulated value for items that are offered for sale by thenetworked system 502.

The tables 700 also include an items table 704 in which are maintaineditem records for goods and services that are available to be, or havebeen, transacted via the networked system 502. Each item record withinthe items table 704 may furthermore be linked to one or more userrecords within the user table 702, so as to associate a seller and oneor more actual or potential buyers with each item record.

A transaction table 706 contains a record for each transaction (e.g., apurchase or sale transaction) pertaining to items for which recordsexist within the items table 704.

An order table 708 is populated with order records, each order recordbeing associated with an order. Each order, in turn, may be with respectto one or more transactions for which records exist within thetransaction table 706.

Bid records within a bids table 710 each relate to a bid received at thenetworked system 502 in connection with an auction-format listingsupported by an auction application 502 of FIG. 5. A feedback table 712is utilized by one or more reputation applications 508 of FIG. 5, in oneexample embodiment, to construct and maintain reputation informationconcerning users. A history table 714 maintains a history oftransactions to which a user has been a party. One or more attributestables 716 record attribute information pertaining to items for whichrecords exist within the items table 704. Considering only a singleexample of such an attribute, the attributes tables 716 may indicate acurrency attribute associated with a particular item, the currencyattribute identifying the currency of a price for the relevant item asspecified in by a seller.

A card number table 718 may include records pertaining to account accesscards belonging to users of the networked system 502 of FIG. 5. Suchrecords may associate user identifiers with persistent card numbers andtheir expiration dates. In various example embodiments, records mayfurther associate the most recently issued temporary card number, ifany, for each identifier/persistent card number pairing.

FIG. 8 provides further details regarding the card number table 718shown in FIG. 7 to be maintained within the databases 526 of FIG. 5. InFIG. 8, a user ID column 802 is shown to include a user ID for usersregistered with the network system whose financial information includesa persistent card number an associated expiration date. A persistentcard number/expiration date column 804 is shown to include a persistentcard number associated with each user ID. A temporary card number column806 may include a particular temporary card number that has mostrecently been issued to a user identified with a user ID in the user IDcolumn 802.

For example, row 808 of the table 800 is shown to include user ID “2”being associated with the persistent card number “3141516171819202” andtemporary card number “T788889999101011” having expiration times of“12-11” and “10-11-08; 1330” respectively. It may be noted that, in thisexample, the representation of the temporary card number expiration timeincludes a calendar date and military time.

A temporary card number/expiration time history column 807 is shown toinclude a history of temporary card numbers obtained by a user in thepast. In an example embodiment, the temporary card numbers obtainedwithin the previous 24-hours is recorded. Temporary card number historymay be recorded for periods shorter or longer than 24-hours. Thetemporary card number/expiration time history 807 in the card numbertable 800 may be accessed by payment applications 522 of FIG. 5 for thepurpose of reconciling payments associated with the historical temporarycard numbers.

FIG. 9 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exampleform of a computer system 900 within which a set of instructions, forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, may be executed. In alternative embodiments, themachine operates as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g.,networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine mayoperate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in aserver-client network environment, or as a peer machine in apeer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be aserver computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), a tabletPC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellulartelephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or anymachine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further,while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include any collection of machines that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 900 includes a processor 902 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU) a graphics processing unit (GPU) or both),a main memory 904 and a static memory 906, which communicate with eachother via a bus 908. The computer system 900 may further include a videodisplay unit 910 (e.g., an LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). Thecomputer system 900 also includes an alphanumeric input device 912(e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 914 (e.g., a mouse), a diskdrive unit 916, a signal generation device 918 (e.g., a speaker) and anetwork interface device 920.

The disk drive unit 916 includes a machine-readable medium 922 on whichis stored one or more sets of instructions 924 (e.g., software)embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein. The instructions 924 may also reside, completely or at leastpartially, within the main memory 904 and/or within the processor 902during execution thereof by the computer system 900, the main memory 904and the processor 902 also constituting machine-readable media.

The instructions 924 may further be transmitted or received over anetwork 926 via the network interface device 920.

While the machine-readable medium 922 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should betaken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralizedor distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by themachine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present subject matter. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to,solid-state memories, optical and magnetic media and carrier wavesignals.

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented. For example, at least some of the operations of amethod may be performed by one or processors or processor-implementedmodules. The performance of certain of the operations may be distributedamong the one or more processors, not only residing within a singlemachine, but deployed across a number of machines. In some exampleembodiments, the processor or processors may be located in a singlelocation (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment or as aserver farm), while in other embodiments the processors may bedistributed across a number of locations.

The one or more processors may also operate to support performance ofthe relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a“software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of theoperations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples ofmachines including processors), these operations being accessible via anetwork (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces(e.g., Application Program Interfaces (APIs).)

In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patentdocuments, to include one or more than one. In this document, the term“or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that “A or B” includes“A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unless otherwise indicated.Furthermore, all publications, patents and patent documents referred toin this document are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety,as though individually incorporated by reference. In the event ofinconsistent usages between this document and those documents soincorporated by reference, the usage in the incorporated reference(s)should be considered supplementary to that of this document; forirreconcilable inconsistencies, the usage in this document controls.

Thus, a method and system to test executable instructions have beendescribed. The above description is intended to be illustrative, and notrestrictive. For example, the above-described embodiments (or one ormore aspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. Otherembodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewingthe above description. The scope of the claims should, therefore, bedetermined with reference to the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. In the appendedclaims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as theplain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and“wherein.” Also, in the following claims, the terms “including” and“comprising” are open-ended, that is, a system, device, article orprocess that includes elements in addition to those listed after such aterm in a claim are still deemed to fall within the scope of that claim.Moreover, in the following claims, the terms “first,” “second,” and“third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to imposenumerical requirements on their objects.

1. A processor-implemented method comprising: receiving a first requestfor a second account code responsive to activation of a selector on anaccount access object, the account access object associated with a valueholding account, the second account code associated with a first accountcode that is associated with the value holding account, the firstaccount code allowing access to the value holding account for a firstdeterminable period; generating a second request for the second accountcode responsive to receiving the first request for the second accountcode; communicating the second request for the second account code tothe value holding account; receiving the second account code from thevalue holding account, the second account code allowing access to thevalue holding account for a second determinable period that is differentfrom the first determinable period; and providing the second accountcode to a user of the account access object responsive to receiving thesecond account code from the value holding account.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the account access object is a cell phone.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, the providing of the second account code includingdisplaying the second account code on a display associated with the cellphone.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the account access object is afinancial instrument.
 5. The method of claim 1, the selector on theaccount access object including a touch sensitive screen.
 6. The methodof claim 5, the activation of the selector on the account access objectincluding the user contacting the touch sensitive screen.
 7. The methodof claim 1, the selector on the account access object including asoftware application executing on the account access object.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, the activation of the selector on the account accessobject including interacting with the software application executing onthe account access object.
 9. The method of claim 1, the providing ofthe second account code including displaying the second account code ona display associated with the account access object.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, the providing of the second account code including at least oneof displaying the second account code within a barcode on a displayassociated with the account access object, and including the secondaccount code within a magnetic encoder associated with the accountaccess object.
 11. The method of claim 1, the communicating of thesecond request for the second account code including wirelesslycommunicating the second request for the second account code to anaccount server associated with the value holding account.
 12. The methodof claim 11, the receiving of the second account code from the valueholding account including wirelessly receiving the second account codefrom the account server associated with the value holding account. 13.The method of claim 1, the value holding account including at least oneof a credit card account, a charge card account, a debit card account,and a gift card account, and the first account code including at leastone of a credit card number, a charge card number, a debit card number,and a gift card number.
 14. The method of claim 1, the seconddeterminable period expiring at or before the first determinable period.15. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprisinginstructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a machine,cause the machine to perform operations comprising: receiving a firstrequest for a second account code responsive to activation of a selectoron an account access object, the account access object associated with avalue holding account, the second account code associated with a firstaccount code that is associated with the value holding account, thefirst account code allowing access to the value holding account for afirst determinable period; generating a second request for the secondaccount code responsive to receiving the first request for the secondaccount code; communicating the second request for the second accountcode to the value holding account; receiving the second account codefrom the value holding account, the second account code allowing accessto the value holding account for a second determinable period that isdifferent from the first determinable period; and providing the secondaccount code to a user of the account access object responsive toreceiving the second account code from the value holding account. 16.The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, theaccount access object being a cell phone and the providing of the secondaccount code including displaying the second account code on a displayassociated with the cell phone.
 17. The non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium of claim 15, the second determinable period expiring ator before the first determinable period.
 18. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 15, the selector on the accountaccess object being a touch sensitive screen.
 19. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 18, the activation of aselector on an account access object including the user contacting thetouch sensitive screen.
 20. The non-transitory machine-readable storagemedium of claim 15, the communicating of the second request for thesecond account code including wirelessly communicating the secondrequest for the second account code to an account server associated withthe value holding account.